ALCS: After collision knocks Avila out of Game 5, he plans to play Saturday; 'I should be all right'

Boston Red Sox's David Ross is out at home on a fielder choice collides with Detroit Tigers catcher Alex Avila in the second inning during Game 5 of the American League baseball championship series Thursday, Oct. 17, 2013, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

“After that collision, Skipper told me to get ready, to get loose, just to make sure that I was ready. They didn’t get me by surprise,” said Pena, who came in as a pinch hitter two innings later, when Avila finally acknowledged he needed to come out. “He took a very bad collision. For him to stay in the game after that, it says a lot about the guy.”

While Avila has battled concussion issues over the last two seasons, it was not that which forced him out of the game. His knee got hyperextended when Boston Red Sox catcher David Ross tried to bowl him over, straining his right patellar tendon. [Click here for a photo gallery from Game 5]

“Yeah, my foot just kind of got stuck there, and it just kind of twisted weird, or hyperextended weird, and just strained that tendon,” said Avila, who dealt with tendinitis in both of his knees at the end of the 2011 season and into the playoffs.
“Obviously (Friday) will tell me a lot. I’ve had this injury before, in 2011, and I had dealt with it on and off over the last three years, so I’m familiar with it. ... Treatment, some strong painkillers. Most likely, I’m planning on playing on Saturday. ...
“I should be all right.”

It certainly didn’t help that Avila — who gets hit by more foul tips than almost any other catcher in baseball — got hit squarely on the mask with one two innings after the collision. He said that was not part of the decision to get him out of harm’s way, but hoping to get him ready to potentially play in Saturday’s Game 6, an elimination game for the Tigers, was part of it.

And it was evident that he couldn’t move very well behind the plate, when Mike Napoli scored an insurance run for the Red Sox in the third inning, bolting for home when a wild pitch got away from Avila. Even though it didn’t go far up the third baseline after Avila blocked it, there was no way he was beating Napoli — who has very pedestrian speed — in a footrace to the ball.

“Well, I mean I definitely didn’t want to come out. But I also knew that I couldn’t really move as well as I wanted to back there. It was bothering me a bit. Kind of between myself, Skip and Kevin (Rand, the head trainer), decided it would be best if I come out,” Avila said. “I tried to (stay in, a couple innings after that. It was hurting me pretty good. Skip just wanted to make sure I was all right. I didn’t have much mobility back there. Was hard to move around. Skip just felt it was best to get me out, and get me right for the next game.”

Before he pinch hit for Avila in the fourth inning, Pena had not appeared in a postseason game for the Tigers. He grounded into an inning-ending double play in his first career playoff plate appearance.

The second time he came up, though, he delivered a sixth-inning RBI single that cut the Tigers’ deficit to 4-2.

“That’s the thing about being a backup. You always have to stay sharp. You always have to be ready. You always have to work hard, keep your mouth shut and just wait for an opportunity. Unfortunately my opportunity today was because our guy got hurt, but that’s my job. I just need to go out there and step it up and try to do my best to help my team. Today, I was trying to have good at-bats, just go out there and grind,” said Pena, who provided one of the regular season’s signature moments, holding on to a ball in an extra-inning collision at the plate with Seattle’s Justin Smoak in April.

“It’s one of those that it’s part of the job. It’s still a baseball game. Concussions and those things, you know how I feel about it, and I wouldn’t trade my position for any. I’m very happy and so excited about my position. It’s one of those that’s part of the game, but it’s hard man, it’s very hard.”

Avila did not think it was in any way a dirty play.

Himself a catcher who has dealt with concussion issues, Ross patted Avila on the back after bowling him over.

“No. No. I’d have done the same thing,” Avila said. “I’ve had a lot of big guys hit me, so ... it’s part of the game. He’s trying to do everything he can to get a run, I’m trying to do everything to stop it.
“I didn’t think it was a dirty play at all. It was a just a good, hard play.”

Matthew B. Mowery covers the Tigers for Digital First Media. Read his “Out of Left Field” blog at opoutofleftfield.blogspot.com.

About the Author

Detroit Tigers beat writer for The Oakland Press in Pontiac, Michigan. Mowery has spent 19 years covering sports, from preps to pros. He’s been honored with more than 25 awards for writing. Reach the author at matt.mowery@oakpress.com
or follow Matthew B. on Twitter: @MatthewBMowery.